


The Cottage

by Gerec



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fix-It, M/M, Post XMA
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-02-06
Packaged: 2018-09-22 10:08:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9603299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gerec/pseuds/Gerec
Summary: Charles offers Magda a surprise in the form of a new home.(AU where Magda and Nina survive the confrontation in the woods).





	

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [Unforgotten](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unforgotten/pseuds/Unforgotten) in the [xmenrarepairs17](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/xmenrarepairs17) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> Free-for-all! Fills for ANY scenario for ANY rare pairs/rare trios+ welcome!

It’s a lovely day for a walk, Magda thinks, as she wanders slowly down the gravel path, inhaling great lungfuls of the crisp autumn air. Leaves are beginning to carpet much of the grass and trails, turning the grounds of the School into a riot of crimson and gold. There are children in all directions, studying and playing and enjoying the outdoors…

…children like her precious Nina, who has taken to running with her new friends – big and small – all over the extensive property.

“She’s taking Jubilee to see the rabbits,” Charles says, answering her idle thought with a smile, looking up at her warmly as she keeps an even pace with his chair. “Then they have to feed the deer, and _then_ they have to visit the new litter of kittens currently hidden in my garage.”

Magda laughs, and Charles’ smile widens, making him look younger and much less severe. He is quite the handsome man she thinks, and not for the first time, though the thought is no longer tinged with wariness over his presence in their lives and what effect it would have on her marriage.

“Then she will be gone all afternoon,” Magda replies, “so we’ll have plenty of time for your ‘surprise’.”

She has no idea what Charles wants to show her, and why he chooses to do so while Erik is away with Raven and the team. But Charles had only smiled at her that morning at breakfast, a little smug though still utterly charming, and insisted that she wait and see.

They fill the rest of their walk with various bits of conversation, discussing the new menus Magda is helping the cook design, as well as the progress Nina is making in her training with Charles. They make it almost to the edge of the property before Charles finally calls for a halt.

“Why are we here?” she asks, looking at the cozy little cottage half hidden by the surrounding trees. “Did you need ideas on what to do with this place? Now that Logan has moved back into the main house?”

She had not known what to make of the man when Charles and Jean had first brought him back, as wild and wary as an abused and cornered animal. Erik had explained about the experiments Logan had suffered at the hands of a ‘Stryker’ and Magda’s heart had gone out to him immediately, even as she wondered whether it was a good idea to have him so close to the children.

But Charles swore that Logan was no danger to Nina, or any of the staff or students, and after much frowning and arguing with Charles behind closed doors, Erik had also (reluctantly) agreed with the assessment.

And if Erik was willing to trust _Nina_ ’ _s_ safety based on Charles’ word, well, then that was good enough for Magda too.

Of course, Nina had proven all their worries for nothing, as she promptly made herself welcome at the cottage where Logan was recuperating. She brought him visitors in the form of squirrels and birds and the occasional deer, and snacks that she saved from her own meals, or stole – with the help of Ororo, and sometimes young Scott Summers – from the kitchens.

Logan didn’t say much, or respond often to Nina’s incessant chatter, though he sat patiently for hours and pet every animal she put into his hands. It helped, Nina’s gentle touch Charles insisted, as much as what he and Jean could do with their powers to remind Logan of the man inside him instead of the beast.

“No, I don’t need ideas,” Charles replies, grinning broadly now as he reaches to take Magda’s hand. “I’ve had the cottage renovated again. We put in a bigger bathtub and a new fridge, though I couldn’t expand the kitchen without taking out too much closet space.  I think you’ll find that it’s a good size for the three of you, though of course it won’t be as big as your old house in Poland—”

“Charles,” she interrupts, “what do you mean the ‘three of us’? You want Erik and Nina and I to move out here? You don’t…you don’t want us in the house?”

She hopes that he doesn’t mean what she thinks he means – that Erik’s previous actions as Magneto is still an issue; that they’re not welcome in Charles’ home despite what he promised when they first sought shelter here—

“Oh, no, no, no, Magda, no!” Charles exclaims, giving her hand a sharp squeeze as he hurries to explain. “It’s not that at all! Of course you’re welcome here! You will always have a home here, as long as you wish it, it’s just…” Charles sighs, before gently letting go of her and scrubbing a hand absently over his bald head. “You and Erik, and Nina. You’re a family…and you should be together, without tripping over an army of children and textbooks everywhere you turn. This cottage out here; it will give your family some privacy from the controlled chaos, and you’ll still be safe.”

 _And close, where I can protect you,_ is what Charles means, even if he doesn’t actually say it. 

A fondness blooms inside Magda at his words, warming her inside and out, and this time, she is the one that grasps Charles’ hand. “I did not know what to expect, before I met you, Charles Xavier,” she says. “I knew only that my husband loved you, loves you still, and that you are a good, and kind person. I thought I would grow to resent you, or that you would hate me…I did not expect you to become such a great friend to me too.”

Charles smiles, his eyes wide and glistening, a light blush dusting his cheeks. “You’re Erik’s family, you and Nina. That makes you my family too. And whatever he and I were _before_ …well, he’ll always be important to me. It makes me happy to see him so happy and at peace. It’s all I’ve ever wanted for him.”

Magda chuckles as she wipes a stray tear from her cheek. “You are too generous, for an old lover,” she teases. “I hope you don’t expect to get the same well wishes from _Erik_ for you and your Logan.”

Charles laughs, a deep throaty sound that seems to fill up the space around them. “I wouldn’t dream of it,” he answers. “Now, let's head inside, shall we? And you can decide how you want to furnish your new home.”

 


End file.
